A lord and a lady who were dancing stopped doing so when Eory approached them with Gershom panting by his side. Eory bowed lowly to them—getting down on one knee—and said, “my name is Eory Arroza. It’s good to meet you.”
The lord and lady looked severely mistrustful, but nonetheless did a slight bow to him and then introduced themselves.
“I am Lord Terrance, and this is my wife, Lady Paulette. I am the lord of the king’s home city, Brambel to the east. It’s good to meet you as well. You may rise.”
Eory rose to his feet and tried to think of something polite to say.
In reality, he merely wished to cower behind Pollyanna or Kori, but he gulped and pushed himself to be polite and socialize. “What’s Brambel like? Is the weather as fair as it is here?”
Terrance laughed aloud. “Of course it is! It’s only three days away, after all.”
At Eory’s embarrassed face, Lady Paulette smiled gently—charmed by his naivety. “You couldn’t have known seeing as how your upbringing was… Quite different from most individuals. Me and my husband know many fairies, and many of them are kind, but there is much friction between the fairies and humans—and understandably so.”
Eory frowned deeply and went silent for a moment.
The only person worth pleasing is yourself
. Pollyanna’s voice echoed in his mind.
I’m not a monster by virtue of my parents
. Eory reassured himself.
And it was as if his whole body relaxed when he said it; it was as if that, once he gave himself permission to think it, he could convince these people to think it, too.
“I’m sincerely sorry for my ancestors’ actions. Maribel is your kingdom… There shouldn’t be fairies here in the first place.”
Lady Paulette and her husband were shocked by his pleasant manners and glanced at each other and then back at Eory with kind smiles. “It… It wasn’t your doing. You’re not responsible for your family’s actions. Although, I must ask you if you know of any way to get on a fairy’s good side so we can strengthen the bond between humans and fairies? There’s such long, bad blood between them.”
Eory shrugged with a sincere smile. “I’m sorry… I barely know anything of fairies. I was essentially raised by Ko—by the Redeemer—and she didn’t teach me much of the culture. She did teach me of the fairy goddesses, but that was it.”
“Ah well. Nonetheless, it was good talking—” Terrance began to say, but then stopped and looked up in white fear as Pollyanna approached and stood behind Eory protectively.
Paulette hurriedly finished her husband’s sentence. “It was good to meet you.”
The two hurriedly backed away from Pollyanna and joined the other lords and ladies again.
Eory turned around and locked eyes with Pollyanna. In a moment, he looked down and felt abject misery claim him—his confident thoughts were being quickly devoured by far more effective, cruel ones.
For a moment, he was back in that tiny room once again with the walls that kept getting closer and closer for each day he had to spend between them—so close that he thought he would get crushed by them.
And then he thought of his only solaces: The books on his shelf which gave him a window into a world he thought he would never experience, and… Pollyanna, who gave him the ability to experience it regardless.
Kori’s stories were so vivid. He was so attached to them and who he thought Pollyanna was.
He was a nothing. No, he was worse than a nothing. He was the last in a vile and evil line of fairies who had invaded a kingdom that belonged to the humans and tried to destroy their culture and thinned out their numbers greatly.
But when Kori told him stories about the woman who was looming over him with a watchful and hateful eye toward anyone who might harm him, he didn’t have to be that person anymore.
A thought entered his mind that brought about visceral sadness--that made his head pound viciously to the point where the music playing and all the delightfulness of the ball was now assaulting his senses instead of delighting them.
I hate myself. I’ve always hated myself. My family is horrible—I’m horrible-- they’ve done unspeakable deeds. How can I ever expect them to accept me?
Kori would often tell him of something unspeakable that his great-grand father did. She would tell him of a human who was recorded in history and made an example of by his ancestor. He was a man who had stood up to him during his reign—a human with a wife and five children.
“The man—Wendell--would come before your great-grand father and beg him to lower his taxes because his children were starving. Eventually, he lost his youngest child who starved to death, and then, when next poor Wendell held an audience with the king, he cursed his name and attempted to assassinate your great grand-father even while he loomed over the man on the high dais he was perched upon. Wendell was a mage of little power—as human mages often are—and he tried to strike the king with a fireball which your grand father waved away easily with his own, vile magic. Do you know what he did next?” Kori had asked him with her arms crossed uncomfortably and in a shuddering voice.
Eory had shaken his head with bated breath as he often did when Kori would tell him of his ancestors’ deeds.
“He beheaded the man and his whole family and…” Kori had screwed her eyes shut and took a deep breath and then she looked off into the distance as if she were witnessing the crime happening before her eyes. “And he put their heads on pikes and displayed them on the battlements of the castle as a warning to those who would dare defy him.”
Eory cried at the memory.
He cried so often—it was another reason why he couldn’t stand himself—but tears streamed down his cheeks now, unbidden, as he thought he would end up just like his great-grand father and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
But Kori would often tell him stories where the warrior maiden would actively undermine and go against the wishes of his wicked ancestors as well.
She would tell him stories about cities which were overrun by the king’s soldiers who were abusing humans and fairies alike at the smallest transgressions—including speaking ill of the Arrozan family in any way. Pollyanna would be stationed at some of these cities from time-to-time in Kori’s stories, and she told Eory about how Pollyanna defended a peasant who spat the king’s name and cursed his family from an onslaught of the king’s soldiers. She disarmed them after she defeated them in battle and made them promise never to tell the king that she had stood with peasants who had insulted him.
Eory thought he could be like that, too.
Just because I’m close to my family, doesn’t mean I have to be them. I want to be like Pollyanna!
But now, seeing her in the flesh—seeing how frightened people were of her—seeing them run away just at her approach, it was beginning to truly sink in that she may not be who he wanted and needed her to be. Why else would people shrink away from her other than the fact that she was just as vile as his ancestors were? He knew what Kori had told him earlier as they were going to bed was true, but he still didn't want to believe it. He still didn't want it to sink in.
Eory sniffled.
And if she’s no good after all, there’s no hope for me, either.
Pollyanna--with her hands on her hips and a sour expression on her face--tapped her foot on the shiny tile floor, and wondered at his tears. She crouched down and looked him in the eyes. “Why the tears? You seem to have been impressing those people. Remember what I told you? The only person worth pleasing is yourself.”
She helped him focus. She alleviated the pounding sadness in his head and the disorientation he felt from the racing of his heart. He was grounded again after a moment as he looked into her clear, blue eyes. He took a deep breath, and the music that had been dimmed in his mind from the panic he felt as well as the smell from the food and the bright colors of the clothing on the ballroom came back into focus.
“You’re right, I
am
the only one worth pleasing. And you know what would please me? If you were just as polite as I am trying to be. We
both
have to impress these people. I order you to.” Eory said with a grin as he wiped his eyes.
Pollyanna glowered, but then shrugged with a smile of her own. She was impressed by his determination. “As you wish. I will try.”
The conflicting emotions continued to fester in his mind, but at the moment, he felt confident and unstoppable again despite the woman who was cackling at him in his mind.
____
The chapter is over! But, if you're bored while waiting for the next one, I have another great story for you to read by Pomms!
The title is: Chronicles of Tharsic
The synopsis is:
Sara's life has been defined by two moments: the first made her run away from home and work as a servant in an inn far away. And the second one...well, she's about to find out.
Similar to Inheritance, the story is a fantasy centered around a young servant girl named Sara who's having an illicit relationship with the prince she works for. The story has a great pace and is written in a really refreshing style! The descriptions are pithy and well done and the author introduces the characters in a slow way where you get a good sense of their personalities and want to know more about them! Please give it a read!